As it happens, I went to bed last night soon after watching 2 hours of Lost (last week's re-run and this week's new episode) and I had what seemed like a night-long continuation in my dreams. Among the events I dreamed (for real, honest):
I was in some kind of secret FBI installation, and they had there some kind of machine that emitted puffs of black smoke — yes, that smoke — that congealed into little electronic butterflies. In the dream I'm thinking, "The FBI is involved in this?"
I was walking with Sawyer out of Ben's house, and I clapped him on the back and said, "So you and Kate are getting married, huh?" To which he replied, "Uh-huh."
Towards daybreak, I was incarcerated in some room, possibly in Ben's house, and they put Weird Al Yankovic in with me. He was sporting an Afro, and I said, "I thought your hair was long these days." He said, "You mean like this?" and removed his Afro wig.
And then I woke up, with a realization. For some reason, all this dreaming had given me a perfect insight into the actual episode. Wait for it .... Ben's man on the freighter is — Sayid! No, really. We all know that time is increasingly fluid in this show, and that at the end of the episode Ben had talked Sayid into doing some kind of spying on the freighter. But since Ben had already received the information before he sent Sayid, this must mean that Ben has knowledge of the future. Probably, like Desmond, he is a time traveler: he has lived through more than one cycle of these events, but, unlike Desmond, he has perfect recall of each iteration.
If you're not a fan of the show, this will sound like gobbledygook, I know. I promise the next time I dream-blog I'll come up with something of more general interest. (Or, you could start watching the show.)
i probably won't start watching the show, but i must say, your description of the shadow and the animus are compelling. (at least you're still linking, my friend!) i, on the other hand, am forced to dream of clan of the cave bear. great! (but at least weird al wasn't in my dreams last night?)
ReplyDeleteHi Ed,
ReplyDeleteI like your theory about Sayid. Your are the first person I've come across that has that theory and I have to say I think it has a lot of merit. Time will tell if you are right.
Jim J.
Perhaps, perhaps - an interesting theory! But based on how you came up with the theory, might it not also be possible to conclude that Ben uses Room 23 to brainwash people into believing that he can time travel, and that he is none other than Weird Al Yankovic in a wig? :)
ReplyDeleteMore seriously, time travel has to be integrated into any theory about what is going on in LOST, now that they showed that a polar bear with a Dharma Initiative collar was sent through time and space to ancient Tunisia. But whether the island's place as a nexus of intersection of timelines and/or parallel universes has been cracked by Ben, or whether he is still merely trying to, remains to be seen. But certainly his presence off the island, without the Others knowing about it, suggests that he has accomplished what the Dharma Intiative had perhaps only tested on animals.
Does this mean that Richard Alpert went back in time to get Ben to carry out the purge? Or is there more to this freedom in time and space than we yet know?
So many questions...they've wowed us so far on numerous occasions, but in order to leave us feeling satisfied at the end, the resolution of these mysteries that they present is going to have to be VERY impressive! :)
Kudo's on the insight, even if I have my doubts.
ReplyDeleteHas there ever been a show so fascinating and frustrating? Probably the closest thing I can think of is the first few episodes of Twin Peaks. As I told one of my colleagues here, back when Lost first got started: "I'll keep watching this until they have backward talking dwarves. Then I'm gone."
Well, the dwarf hasn't shown up yet. Still fascinated and plugged in, for two-plus hours a week.